Quiet

I apologize for silence here, but there is so little I feel I can say right now. How is knitting or "holiday rush" at all important in these past few days?


This tragedy feels particularly personal in such a strange way. After hearing all this news over the weekend and striving to find the real information in the midst of all the speculation, it became so very real to know the children lost were mostly first graders, 6 and 7 years old in that safe little town.


My oldest son is 7 and if he attended school he would be a first grader too.


As I was beginning to feel just a bit of distance from this awful case, Jamie Martin (editor of Simple Homeschool, a space where I have written a few times) shared that Newtown, CT is HER town, and it all became that much more personal.


We're all so different in the way we process things and just as many of my friends processed by turning off the news and going out of their way to not hear anything, I felt it imperative to my mental state to find out what really happened. I started looking for more accurate information on Sunday; Friday and Saturday were both so full of wild speculation that it was hard to listen to anything at all. And I read in more than one place where people being interviewed said that this tragedy is more than enough to make them consider homeschooling.


Dear friends, we don't homeschool out of fear. No one should. We aren't afraid of public schools or other people or that minuscule risk of violence breaking out in a first grade classroom. We homeschool as a lifestyle choice we have made, and not one we feel anyone else should make.


Yes, I hold my kids tight today. I look at my 7-year-old and know exactly what was lost last Friday in those young ones. But the actions of this one man don't make my decisions for me. We choose to continue our educational life at home, not out of fear of what may come, but out of the joy we have found here.

Annual Holiday Crafting Panic

Last week was a WEEK y'all.

I don't know what it is about this fall/winter, folks, but we have been battling one little illness after another, always staggered so there are only 1 or 2 of us sick at a time, but it always rotates through the whole family. The disease of the day always seems to hit me last (thank goodness!) but Ellie is hit worst, poor girl. It's just really hard to understand sneezing and coughing when you're such a little thing.

My camera died last week too- right in the middle of putting up our tree. It was a great family time, even if it went un-photographed. I'm hoping the camera is only minorly dead; it's with a friend who is checking it out for me. 

I had a mini- panic midweek last week about Christmas. It should really be referred to as the "Annual Panic" because it truly is in early December every year.

You know the one most creative types have before gift giving holidays- the one where you look at your crafting list and say, "HOLY SMOKES! How on Earth did I ever think I could get this all done??? I'm a crazy person and I'm not going to finish any of it and there will be NO CHRISTMAS this year all because of me, the single-handed ruiner of Christmas!!!"

Or maybe that's just me.

So I clicked on my Christmas spreadsheet (because I'm that sort of geek) and prepared to talk myself down from that place. I looked through the list for each person and thought... you know what? I'm not in bad shape. AT ALL. I'm actually super close to done as long as I stick to knitting every night.

And instead of rejoicing in that truth and feeling a burden lifted off of me, my brain went crazy trying to add even more projects to the Christmas list. Because if the pressure isn't on, maybe I missed someone to make for? Or someone already on the list needs an extra sweater or something.

REALLY?

So I did the smart thing and I'm sticking to my original list.

I have enough Holiday Crafting years in me to know that *something* will go horribly wrong with a project or two and I'll find myself ripping and re-knitting and wrapping after midnight on Christmas Eve to finish that last thing.

And if magically I find myself done early with nothing else to do?

There are MANY items waiting in the queue.

Christmas Knitting

After a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family we received news that my grandmother (who had been admitted to the hospital earlier that week) was not going to be with us very much longer. My parents had already jumped in the car very early Friday morning and were able to be there with her for a few hours before she passed away.

She has had cancer for a long while now and even made it past original predictions. But the last few weeks have seen more difficulties with treatment, and she told my grandfather she was ready to be done.

So we ran off to Indiana and Ohio last week, land of slow hotel internet connections. We spent many hours in the car, far more than our crawling/pulling up/busy, busy, BUSY little girl was interested in. But everyone did far better than we could have expected. Thank goodness for empty soda bottles and mama's bracelets and any other non-baby toy that could pass as entertainment during those many hours!

We're home now, and I realized that it's December 2 and I don't have nearly as much time for crafting Christmas gifts as I had once hoped. We haven't even put up a tree yet.

I did manage to finish another Christmas knit for Ellie on the trip: a Lacy Julian Hat in a larger size made from the leftover yarn from her cardigan. I promise an actual "completed" photo to come soon, modeled by a super cute little girl.

I also cast on mittens for one of the boys on the trip, but keeping the baby happy took a lot more attention than I had expected. The other finished Christmas knit for Ellie is the Helena Cardigan that I finished earlier this month. I'm hoping to also make her a pair or two of thumbless mitts for this winter if I get the boys' knitted gifts finished in time.

6 Months

Who knows how many warm days we have left

So we spent the weekend outside soaking up sun while we can.

Almost seven months she has been with us.

It gets harder each day to remember that there was life before her.

And now she goes all the time. Rolling, crawling, pulling up on everything. Any second now she'll be running after her brothers. She already knows how much they adore her and she knows just who to go to to get exactly what she wants.

I am so thankful for this little girl.

And these silly boys of mine who insisted that Ellie *needed* a picture with all of her favorite things- including them...

They have welcomed her so thoroughly. I think I spend most of my time reminding them to give her some space. They just adore her so.

I am so very thankful for this little family I've been given. 

Summer in a Glass

It's when it gets cold that I'm so glad we put up a little bit of food over the summer months. And my favorite thing right now? 

Strawberry syrup.

When I put up strawberry jam, butter and preserves in June I decided to try a bit of syrup too. And let me tell you, my friend- best pantry addition ever! 

Mix it with a little bit of sparkling water and you have summer in a glass. It's the perfect bit of sweet to enjoy with popcorn or while I knit at night.